Does Creatine Cause Cramps? Does It Cause Increased Water?

I have enjoyed reading your articles on Bodybuilding.com. I would like to know your opinion on whether:

1. Creatine increases the likelihood of muscle cramps

2. Whether creatine greatly increases the amount of water in your muscles and therefore muscle quality

3. Whether Cell-Tech by MuscleTech is a far superior product when compared to the standard creatine monohydrate powder.

4. Whether I should mix Gatorade with my creatine after a workout

I know these seem fairly trivial questions but I would really appreciate it if you could tell me your thoughts on these points.

No problem! Here is the truth:

1. Creatine does not cause muscle cramps!

A study was done to investigate the effects of creatine on cramping. This study was designed to dehydrate its athletes. The athletes preformed sprints in a heat chamber for 75 minutes! When they compared athletes who had loaded creatine at 20 grams a day for 5 days to the athletes consuming a placebo, the results were: Both groups cramped up equally, showing the creatine had no effect on cramping, even when dehydrated.

Reference: Creatine supplementation: Effect on supramaximal exercise performance at two levels of acute Hypohydration. J.Strength & Cond. Res. 14(2) 214-219, 2000.

2. Creatine draws water into muscle cells, which increases muscle cell volume, thereby leading to an increase in lean tissue synthesis.

Reference: M Francaux & JR Poortmans. Effects of training and creatine supplement on muscle strength and body mass. Eur. J. Appl Physiol. 80: 165-168, 1999.

Reference: MG Bemben, DA Bemben, DD Loftiss and AW Knehans. Creatine supplementation in college football athletes. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 33:10;1667-1673, 2001.

3. Is Cell-Tech far superior to standard creatine products? It is not superior, only more effective because you are adding 75 grams of sugar per serving. This sugar causes an insulin spike, which drives the creatine into muscle cells. Not to mention the added 300 calories. So, yes you would get better results taking Cell-Tech over a standard creatine with nothing added to it. Does this mean you should use Cell-Tech? Hell no! Cell-Tech is junk. Overpriced to say the least. You are better off going with AST's Creatine HSC. It's way cheaper, higher quality, taste better, works better, etc.

4. Yes, that is perfect. The carbs in Gatorade are from dextrose. The same stuff in most popular premixed creatine powders. It also has extra electrolytes which will help you out.

You can contact me with your questions and comments at dspikehead@hotmail.com.

Later,

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